Paper Rose Cuts
by Last Haven
Summary: Rated for Adult Language. In a crowded dance floor, Raven finds comfort in the arms of her enemy. MalchiorRaven


**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans nor the song 'Angels' by Within Temptation.**

**It's time I came flat out and admitted it...I'm a Malchior Fan. Like full on groupie. If I saw him I might blow a fuse and put the old NSync/Backstreet Boys' fans to shame. Yeah. I'd crawl, beg, and bawl to get an autograph. Or he could look at me. That would be great too.**

**So, a warning: THIS STORY IS RAVEN/MALCHIOR.**

**Got a problem?**

**Bite me.**

**Oh, make sure to read the parenthesis. They contain Raven's thoughts and such. FYI, look closely at the end of Homecoming, Part II, and you can see Malchior, paper man version, standing there amongst the villains! He really is there!**

---------------

Flashing lights, twisting bodies, and thumping music surrounded her, pounding into her brain and she couldn't help but wonder-what the hell am I doing here?

Ah, right.

Starfire.

Well, to be fair it was the entire team that decided to go to the dance club and insisted she come too but she knew it was Starfire's idea in the first place. After the defeat of her father, the entire team was trying so hard to include her in everything because they had all come to the startling conclusion:

She was _mortal_. She was vulnerable and fragile.

Which was only a hop, skip, and a jump for mental unstable, unhinged, suicidal, insane, _mad_.

Thus began their campaign to include her in nearly all facets of their lives. Robin talked to her about literature-classical literature, since he still didn't read her kind of books. Beast Boy was always trying new, and steadily declining unfunny, jokes. Cyborg had taken the mildest route of all of them and just made sure to talk to her more-she had quickly appreciated this more since his method was the least intruding and one that annoyed her the least because she still needed her space. Starfire had tried the hardest of all-she had even suggested getting _herself _a more gothic wardrobe. Raven had stared at her and even gave her a hug for such a heroic, if unnecessary, gesture.

This was another form of that campaign-drag Raven everywhere with them. She was always annoyed with this-she usually had better things to do-but she always gave into them. After all, no one knew how mortal she was better than herself.

So here she was, surrounded by hot, sweaty, dancing bodies and too loud music. She had tried to shy off into the shadowy corners of the dance floor or even escape to the tables near the entrance but she had been caught every time by her teammates as she tried to flee and been dragged back to the cramped floor. She had even been shoved into the small clearings between dancers and had been nearly forced to "bust a move" as Beast Boy would say-she had teleported twice after this happened and was now fighting the constant pull of the dancers to those spots.

"Raven!" she heard over the _thump thump _of the bass and saw Starfire gesturing to her, herself, and another one of those damnable dancing spots.

She shook her head and began her latest attempt at escape. Starfire shrugged and turned back to her multiple dancing partners. (_Where was Robin? Jealously sulking or had he even noticed? _she wondered.)

To her horror a slow came on and at least three pairs of hands had tried to pull her into their grasp. She had turned and ran smack dab into a sturdy black t-shirt wearing chest. She blinked and looked up into the face.

Oh, _shit_.

She hadn't recognized him for a minute-he was all in black and even had a black handkerchief wrapped around his mouth. His white hair was still as long as it was in the pictures showed. It was her eyes that made her recognize him-they were the same damn blue eyes that entranced her before.

"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise, eh, my dear sweet Raven?"

Damnit, it was still even that voice! That damn voice that had ensnared her to him.

"You!"

"I believe the situation calls for a bit of a celebration-two old friends being reunited and such. Care for a dance?" Malchior asked and swept her right up into a waltz.

Of all things to realize about the situation was not the fact Malchior was loose from his book, nor the fact he looked _really _nice in those clothes, _(she supposed armor was out of style in this day and age, what a pity...)_ or even that he had just started dancing with her, _(he was a great dancer too, better than Beast Boy who liked stomping on toes, Cyborg who preferred fast dancing, nor Robin who got distracted easily)_ it was the fact he had said they were friends that got her riled up which she blurted out before thinking to her own embarrassment. "We are _not _friends!"

"Ah, my mistake." Damn him, she could hear his smile in his voice as he spoke like he was humoring her. "I'm still a bit behind the times it seems."

Finally her brain caught up with her. "What the hell are you doing here!" she snapped as she spun with him.

He laughed. "I suppose you haven't checked the chest you left my book in, have you?"

"I didn't think I needed too-and why are you and me dancing!"

"Because, it is a slow song and if not me you would be dancing with _boys _who will stomp on your toes or try to grope you."_ (Was that jealously_, she thought, _in his voice when he had said boys like a vile derogatory term?)_

"Oh, how kind of you to think of my poor feet and my diginty _now_, after you betrayed me! ..._Let go, damn you!"_ she snapped trying to tug away.

"Now now, no need to get so defensive-it's just a simple dance, Raven." he chuckled. To her chagrin, another slow song came on the speakers. _(Is the entire universe against me?_ she thought harshly.) "Besides it's not as if they deserve the honor, dear Raven."

_Sparkling angel I believed  
You were my saviour in my time of need.  
Blinded by faith I couldn't hear  
All the whispers, the warnings so clear.  
_

"Honor, huh?" she sneered. "Forget that! How did you get out of that book!"

He chuckled easily and she knew he was smirking at her. "Oh, you can thank your friends-The Brotherhood of Evil, I believe." he explained. "They released me after you left to go help the green one's friends, _Beast Boy _if I remember right." he sneered.

_I see the angels,  
I'll lead them to your door.  
There's no escape now,  
No mercy no more.  
_

Her eyes thinned and she tried to draw back. "What do you have against Beast Boy? Besides, the obivious that he's against _you_."

"Oh, I?" he laughed. "Just the other obvious!"

Her eyes narrowed again. "What other obvious?"

He smiled and shook his head at her in amusement and spun her quickly. "Anyway, back to the topic at hand-they released me. Unfortunately, they were under the impression I would help them-"

"Why didn't you?" she hissed. He raised a brow as if shocked.

"Why, Raven! How little you think of me!" he proclaimed and drew so close she gasped. "I don't work well in groups."

She blinked, flushed, and tried to wretch away.

"Now, Raven, no need to be hasty-"

_No remorse cuz I still remember  
_

He dipped her and she saw in her upside down vision the other Titans laughing and dancing and she _knew_ what he was getting at. She gasped and he bent down to her ear and whispered to her. "-we don't want to worry your friends do we?"

_The smile when you tore me apart._

"You, bastard-!" she shrieked but was drowned out by the music. He laughed at her.

"Such harsh language!" he chuckled and swept her back up.

_You took my heart,  
Deceived me right from the start.  
You showed me dreams,  
I wished they would turn into real.  
You broke the promise and made me realize.  
It was all just a lie.  
_

She glared up at him and began to chant. "Azarath, Metrion-!"

"Now, now, Raven, remember your friends." he chided. "No need to distract them from their fun." She glared at him and saw her vision blur, felt the prick of tears, and the rasp in her chest as a lump formed in her throat. His expression softened in her blurry vision and he swept her closer again. "Raven, Raven, Raven, no need for tears either."

Then she was so _tired_. She sighed deeply and rested her head against his shoulder. She wanted to crawl any somewhere, anywhere, and _sleep_.

_Sparkling angel, I couldn't see  
Your dark intentions, your feelings for me.  
Fallen angel, tell me why?  
What is the reason, the thorn in your eye?  
_

Azar knows how badly she needed it. She never slept easy before _or _after Trigon's coming. There was always the worry, the fear, knowing that he was _still _there, waiting for the chance to come again. Waiting for _her _moment of weakness to come again.

_(She wondered if he knew now was the perfect time to try again?)_

_I see the angels,  
I'll lead them to your door  
There's no escape now  
No mercy no more  
No remorse cause I still remember  
The smile when you tore me apart  
_

"Raven, sweet Raven," he murmured into her hair and if she closed her eyes she could just ignore the one who was holding her's terrible betrayl against her. Then she could keep him and then she wouldn't lonely because Starfire had Robin and Cyborg had Jinx and Beast Boy had Terra so now she had her own and wouldn't need them to drag her everywhere because she would be _fine fine fine_ and that's all there was to it.

He whispered her name over and over and she knew not to ruin it by saying his own.

_You took my heart,  
Deceived me right from the start.You showed me dreams,  
I wished they would turn into real.  
You broke the promise and made me realise.  
It was all just a lie.  
Could have been forever.  
Now we have reached the end.  
_

"Come with me." he whispered and she knew she needed to say no but it was _really _tempting and she shouldn't _even _want to say yes but he was there solid, real, and oddly comforting and she wanted that so bad.

_This world may have failed you,  
It doesn't give you a reason why.  
You could have chosen a different path in life.  
_

She sighed and burrowed closer into his chest. "I _can't_." she whispered. She was so close to begging him not to ask again but her mouth wouldn't co-operate.

He sighed and she didn't even move when she he moved his hand and slid it up from the small of her back and stopped over her heart. "Please."

She blinked and realized what he was going to do. (_Oh, _oh. she thought.) She felt the magic charge above her heart and she smiled at him.

"No." _(Please, end it now...)_

_The smile when you tore me apart._

She waited. Waited for the end. _An end, an end, an end _to her trouble, her worries, and it would all _end_...

He just needed to shove that magic through her and it would be over.

And then she fell to the ground as he let go.

_You took my heart,  
Deceived me right from the start.  
You showed me dreams,  
I wished they would turn into real.  
You broke the promise and made me realise.  
_

She blinked and looked up at him. He shook his head. "No."

And then he was gone.

_It was all just a lie.  
Could have been forever.  
Now we have reached the end._

Hours later, the Titans found her. She had teleported to her room and cried herself to sleep.

In her hands, that bled from the paper cuts, rested a perfect paper rose.

**Well, that didn't come close to what I wanted. XD Woah, damn song. That's funny, it came darker than I suspected. Hmm, oh well. It's still M/R, and that makes my day.**


End file.
